Summer Letters
by luvmeanddespair
Summary: A series of letters written between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, written during the summer of 1997 prior to their Horcrux search.


A series of letters written between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, written during the summer of 1997. (Phrases in **bold** have been crossed out on the letters.)

Rating for some mild language, and of course I do not own Ron, Hermione (unfortunately), or anyone/thing else here. Enjoy!

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**(Written on Weds. 25/06.97, arrived Weds. 25/06/97)**

Dear Ron,

I know that we'll only be spending about a week and a half apart from this point, but I really wanted to write to you. I don't know why, I just got this sudden urge to pick up a quill and write any random thing that pops into my head.

I haven't told Mum and Dad about helping Harry hunt Horcruxes (there's a tongue-twister for you and the twins) so as far as I'm aware they think I'll be returning to Hogwarts come September after spending a lovely holiday at the Burrow with you and Harry. Or maybe I don't give them enough credit and they know that we won't be going back. I don't know.

At the moment, I keep thinking that I don't know anything.

Well, I said I'd write randomly, so here goes: my mum's hamster died (it's a bit like a really tiny, furry dog Crup), my dad keeps trying to get me a summer job even though he knows I won't be around for most of it, there's a corner of wallpaper in my room that's come unstuck and is flapping all over the place, and it's 2.34 in the morning and I can't sleep. My head keeps filling with nightmares about Voldemort.

Merlin, I want to see you so very badly! but at the same time I just don't think I can leave my parents; I'm their only daughter, only child; what if this is the last time I ever see them? Last smile I get from them, last thing I tell them, last meal/day/breath I share with them?

I know my family has never been as close as yours, Ron (and I keep thinking, whose could? I've never known a family as large as yours, but neither one so close! Except for, well, let's not mention any names, hey?) but I still love them to pieces and if anything happened to them, anything I could have prevented if I'd stayed here, well … I don't know what I'd do.

It's strange. I'm sat here, in my bedroom, doing a normal thing like writing a letter (not at a normal time, mind), yet before we know it, we'll be putting everything at risk, even ourselves, to help Harry kill Voldemort. I wonder if it'll be a slow, painful death for him. Probably not. Harry said that Dumbledore told him that Voldemort's soul had been separated for too long. That'd make sense, I suppose.

So, is everything all right over there? My mother keeps mollycoddling me, she can't believe I'm back so soon, and I don't think she wants me to go anywhere, even though she knows I'll be leaving fairly soon. Who's staying at the Burrow now? Did Harry go straight there, to go back to Privet Drive later, or the other way round? I didn't notice if those awful Dursleys were at the station, my mum was too busy saying hello.

Oh, and I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you. I was going to , then my dad was talking to me, and when I turned round again you'd gone! So I'm really sorry about that. I'd give you a hug, but you can't send those, can you? I'll just write some 'x's or something. xxxx

It's now 2.49 – no, 2.50 – and I'm still not tired. But if I keep writing any longer Mum'll hear when she gets up to go to the toilet, or my hand'll drop off, or something. So I'll see you sometime after next week, okay?

Oh, and Mum and Dad bought me this owl as a (very) early birthday present. Do you like him? I called him Won-Won – as a joke at first, but it seems to have stuck.

Love, Hermione.

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**(Written on Weds. 25/06.97, arrived Thurs. 26/06/97)**

Hermione,

You'd better be joking about this bird. 'Won-Won' is an awful name – and he's actually quite nice. I don't suppose Crookshanks has tried to eat him yet, has he?

I did wonder about what happened at the station – one moment you were there, the next, you'd gone, and mum said she'd seen you leaving. I wasn't happy, as you might imagine!

I'd actually gone to get you some tissues, 'cos you were crying a lot. You were crying a lot that day. (It's a shame about the hugs, isn't it?)

I'm sure your parents know and understand about you helping Harry. They can't be stupid – they have you as a daughter, after all!

Don't worry about it. They'll be fine. Honestly. And you can't go saying, 'What if I didn't go …' because if you weren't going with Harry, you'd be going to Hogwarts, and leaving them anyway.

You'll be fine leaving them. It's not like you've never left them before, is it? And it won't be 'the last' anything. You will see them again, I swear on it.

Everyone's fine over here. There's me (obviously), Ginny, mum, dad, Bill, Fleur, Charlie – and Harry is here. We thought he might as well stay here until the wedding, then we can go to Privet Drive for a day or so, go to Godric's Hollow, and work out what to do from there. Is that okay with you?

And, well, I really want to see you too. I mean, after the funeral, and all …

And stop worrying about **You-K** Voldemort, and you'll stop having those nightmares.

**Love**

Ron.

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**(Written on Thurs. 26/06.97, arrived Fri. 27/06/97)**

Dear Ron,

The wedding - Privet Drive – Godric's Hollow idea is fine by me. That way, Harry gets to spend the most time with the family he loves, rather than the one he hates. How is he holding up around Ginny, by the way?

I don't want the owl being called Won-Won either, but I suppose it serves me right. It's just that he's got lovely orangey feathers and I didn't feel right calling him Ron. But at least it's only the owl being called that now, hey? And no, Crookshanks hasn't tried to eat him!

I did wonder where you'd gone at the station. Getting me tissues was really nice! I'm sorry I went, again. My parents seemed really desperate to get away – maybe in case they thought I'd try to leave with you.

And I still don't know what to do about them. I'm leaving in seven days and I don't know if it's the last time I'll ever see them again – I don't care what you say! I'm scared for them. I know now that they know we won't be going back to Hogwarts … but I just can't leave things hanging. I need closure, you know that.

We had a funeral for the hamster. It was awful. Dad just dug a hole in the garden and Mum wrapped her up and buried her, then she said a few words and all those memories came rushing back, and I couldn't stop crying. You're right, they're not stupid, they knew it wasn't about the hamster, wasn't even completely about Dumbledore (hence my comment about them knowing). They tried comforting me, but they … well, they just weren't _you._

This is the sort of thing that gives me courage and determination whenever I don't think I can face leaving; whatever world we go into, whatever world we create by killing Voldemort, it's got to be better than this one we're leaving behind, the one where everybody gets killed off one by one. Right? I know I'll have you there to protect me.

And I do try to stop thinking about Voldemort, Ron, but then I just have nightmares about somebody else …

Love, Hermione.

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**(Written on Fri. 27/06.97, arrived Sat. 28/06/97)**

Hermione,

Have you tried sitting down with your parents and talking through everything? I'm sure it'd work. Try it – and let me know how it goes.

I'm sorry about the hammond, by the way – I don't think I wrote it in my last letter. And I'm very sorry about how the little funeral went. I know it must be hard for you. Ginny keeps getting teary-eyed, too. Or maybe that's about Harry. No, she's never been that upset over a boy. But, then, her and Harry …

It's really awkward over here. Whatever room Ginny's in, Harry seems to be there too. And Bill and Fleur end up in there too, which makes it even worse.

They have this unspoken agreement not to talk to each other unless it's absolutely necessary. So Harry might say, 'Pass the peas, please, Ginny,' at dinner (if there's no one else he can ask) and she will do, and he'll say, 'Thank you,' and she'll say, 'That's okay,' and then it'll be all awkward. But that doesn't happen often, because they try and sit one at each end of the same side of the table, so they don't have to look at each other. It couldn't be worse if they'd split up over something like one of them cheating, for Merlin's sake. Harry's just being selfish.

I still don't like that owl being called Won-Won.

Who are you having nightmares about?

Dad says he'll connect your house to the Floo network and pick you up next Thursday. Do you want me to come too, or are you all right?

Ron.

P.S. I wouldn't have minded you calling the owl Ron. Ron delivers letters to Ron. Ron sends letters using Ron …

I'll shut up now, hey?

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**(Written on Sat. 28/06.97, arrived Sun. 29/06/97)**

Dear Ron,

It's really funny seeing you ramble on in letters. I men, you get used to hearing it, but seeing go on and on on paper … it's really funny.

I suppose calling the owl 'Ron' would have been better than 'Won-Won', but I was just calling him that until I thought of a better name. And when I did, he only ever answered to Won-Won. Merlin, don't I feel stupid now.

Well, I've spoken to my parents. It really worked, Ron – thank you so much! I just told them that I needed to talk to them, and they listened to everything I had to say (which was A LOT!) and then we just talked through a lot of things … I just feel so much better for it. Thank you for telling me to do it.

When I get to the Burrow we are really going to have to do something about Harry and Ginny, Ron. They must be driving you crazy! **Imagine being with two people who are obviously attracted to each other and aren't doing anything about it!** It must be really annoying, neither of them having a proper conversation with each other.

About the nightmares … just forget I said anything, okay, it's something really stupid and you really don't need to hear it.

I'll see you next Thursday (by the way, my mum's a bit iffy about the front room, where the fireplace is, so try not to make too much of a mess) because yes, I would like you to come. My parents would like to meet you – I mean, I've seen yours so often, it only seems fair. Don't worry; they really like you from what I've told them!

And, I mean, _I_ want you to meet me, too. It's not just for my parents' sake.

There might be a lot of luggage because I'm packing for _after_ the wedding, too, if you know what I mean (looking back, that sounds really stupid, but whatever

Love, Hermione.

P.S. When are you and Harry taking an Apparition test?

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**(Written on Sun. 29/06.97, arrived Mon. 30/06/97)**

Hermione,

You can't pack too much! We're going to have to be able to move things – you can't bring your whole library.

I'm, uh … really looking forward to meeting your parents. I suppose. Harry's laughing at me at the moment because he read some of the letter over my shoulder (don't worry, he just snorted at the bit about getting him and Ginny back together – which I am not doing, by the way) and … where was I? Oh, yeah … he thinks it's going to be a really awkward, 'meet the future-in-laws' kind of thing – but just not 'future', more like 'soon-to-be', no, that came out wrong too, just … give me a minute while I jinx Harry to death.

I'm glad you sorted things out with your parents. I didn't want to tell you before, because you sounded so upset, but I'm terrified of leaving my parents too. I think we'll have to just sneak off one night – mum'll never let us go, you know that.

Like I said earlier, there is no chance that we're going to get Harry and Ginny back – your damn owl just bit me! It was my ear-lobe as well. Ouch, that hurt!

Let me get this straight about this owl. You were going to call it Ron (do you really think I've got a squashed-in face and a mouth like a beak?) but decided that'd be weird – and called it Won-Won? You're definitely not Lavender pretending to be Hermione?

(It just bit me again. What was the other name you though of, by the way?)

And about those nightmares – you obviously thought it was important enough to write down – come on, you can tell me. Promise I won't go all squeamish on you. Or laugh.

Oh, yeah – Harry and I might not be taking an Apparition test. We were talking about it, and we thought, we don't want to be followed around by the Ministry or what have you, once we're looking for the Horcruxes, right? And dad told me that they keep tabs on all Apparitions – who, where from, where to, that sort of thing. I'm surprised I was surprised at that, actually, they're such a bunch of control freaks. Anyway, if we're all 'legal' Apparators, they'll be able to follow us. If we're illegal (however much I know you won't like it) they won't know about it and we can take you with us – you know, Side-Along Apparition. It makes sense if you think about it, Hermione.

I'll see you in four days.

Ron.

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**(Written on Mon. 30/06.97, arrived Tues. 01/07/97)**

Dear Won-Won!

Tell Harry he shouldn't be nosy. And we _are_ going to get them back together! Unless they do it for themselves first. And no, I'm definitely not Lavender!

I read through your whole theory on Apparition before getting mad – then realised I wasn't mad because it made sense (for once!). Let's just hope that you don't go leaving any more eyebrows lying around! (Sorry, I know it's a bit of a sore point)

Don't be worried about coming round, Ron, please – my dad is definitely not the type to go round strangling any boy who comes within fifty feet of me. He's actually a bit like your dad, I suppose. And I'm supposedly a carbon copy of my mum so she'll **absolutely love you** get on with you really well.

And just forget about the nightmares, really – they're not important. Honestly. They're slightly pathetic if you think about it. And not even nightmares, just my rantings. They wouldn't even be that bad to anyone else. That bad? No one else would even care!

I'll see you in three days, then. And there's no need to get dressed up in your Sunday best, either!

Love, Hermione.

P.S. I wasn't planning on taking many books, actually. Just a couple of my more advanced ones that might come in useful with the Horcruxes. And we'll be able to transport our things _magically_, Ronald. Honestly! xxx

P.P.S. I'm sorry about Won-Won. He never normally bites, apparently. Maybe your earlobe was exceptionally salty yesterday. But I apologise to you for him.

P.P.P.S. I was going to call him Rusty.

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**(Written on Tues. 01/07/97, arrived Weds. 02/07/97)**

Hermione,

I was never planning on getting dressed up anyway! (Let me just scribble 'Buy new dress robes' off my to-do list)

Of course I knew we could transport our stuff magically, Hermione. I was just testing you.

And if your mum is a 'carbon copy' of you (I'm guessing that means you're the same or something) I'll have to make sure I don't say anything that could make her upset and not talk to me for days. Weeks, even. I'll be sure not to kiss anyone in front of her, for example …

Harry gave me a very colourful reply to pass onto you, which I won't do – but I'm sure you get the gist of it. Or maybe I will tell you, after your slur on my Apparition skills. That examiner was just jealous of my being there with you. It's not like I left my arm or leg behind, after all, for Merlin's sake!

But please, Hermione, tell me what was wrong with your dreams. I want to help you. Please tell me what you dreamt about when you weren't having nightmares about Voldemort? Please? If they're really bad I'll sit near you when you're asleep so I can wake you up if needs be. Or failing that, we could ask Trelawney to interpret them for you.

See you the day after next. I want you to write to me for tomorrow, still, though.

'Won-Won' (I'll let your bloody bird off. Seeing as it's you)

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**(Written on Weds. 02/07/97, arrived Thurs. 03/07/97)**

Dear Ron,

You're as stubborn as a mule, as usual.

Sorry for insulting your 'Apparition skills'. I didn't know it was something men got wound up about. And of course you were just testing me.

I told you, the dreams are nothing. I'm just being silly, very, childishly, silly. They're nothing. They were when I first had them, and they still are. Not even Trelawney could get a vampire duck attack out of them.

I hope you _won't_ kiss anyone in front of my mum. There'll only be my dad (I would be mortified if you kissed him), your dad (ditto) and me (d

**Actually, I take that back, what I said before. I'm sure my parents and your dad wouldn't mind**

My hands keep wanting to write things. Stupid things. I'm sorry about that.

If I tell you what the dreams are, will you swear never to tell anyone? What am I talking about, of course you will. You're the most trustworthy person I know.

**You're going to laugh at me, though. Maybe I shouldn't tell you. Maybe you'll think I'm stupid and insecure and**

It's you and Lavender. All right? You're … you're getting married, and everyone's sat in church, and I'm sat right at the front, and as Lavender walks past she gives me this really snide look, and all through it I'm sat crying, and people think it's because I'm really emotional, like your mum, but it's not, I'm crying for a different reason (I'll leave you to work that out, hey) and then at the end, the vicar says, 'You may kiss the bride,' and you lift up the veil and it's not her face anymore, it's someone else's, it's m

Just forget I ever said anything. Ignore this letter, okay? I've gone mad whilst I'm writing it. I think that's the only plausible reason for the sheer amount of _rubbish_ I've written, looking back over this flipping letter. I don't think I'll send it. But I don't have any more parchment and you wanted a reply, and in a strange way, it … it says everything I'd want it to say.

Well, nearly everything.

Love, Hermione.

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**(Written on Thurs. 03/07/97, arrived Fri. 04/07/97)**

Dear Mr and Mrs Granger,

My name's Ron Weasley. You might remember me from yesterday (well, this morning for me, but by the time this reaches you it'll be yesterday's news). What am I talking about, 'might', of course you will. You don't really forget a stranger suddenly appearing in your front room, and, well …

I'm really, really, sorry about what happened yesterday. I should have waited, I know I should have. I mean, my dad and me were supposed to be going over to your house today, to pick up your daughter. I knew that. She knew that. You and my dad knew that. Nobody knew anything about what I did yesterday. Not even me really.

By the way, they way I got to your house is called Apparition. You concentrate really hard on a place you want to go to, and you disappear from where you are and reappear there. Come to think of it, Hermione probably told you all about it, seeing as she's got a licence.

You have to be seventeen and pass a test to be allowed to do it, and Hermione passed (but of course you'll know that). I failed mine (only by half an eyebrow, though – not that you care, I'm sure) so I'm not supposed to do it. That's one of the reasons why my dad was so mad at me when he arrived at your house too (via Apparition again). That, and the fact that I'd Apparated to a stranger's house, they (you) didn't know about it, you're not supposed to do it straight into a house, and I grabbed your daughter and started kissing her right in front of you.

And Mrs Granger, I don't really blame you for throwing the ornament at me. I can't really imagine how it must feel to have someone you don't know suddenly appear in your home and start kissing your daughter. But I appreciate that it wasn't a knife.

I also appreciate the fact that you still allowed Hermione to come to the Burrow (my house) for the summer after what happened. And I know you didn't really get much explanation between all the red-faced stammering from me, yelling from you and my dad and pleadings from Hermione.

You see, me and Hermione have really liked each other for a long time – _really_ liked each other. You probably don't need to hear this, but I promised my mum I'd apologise and explain to you (believe me, you'd promise my mum anything when she's mad).

About two weeks ago, after Dumbledore's funeral (which I'm sure you've heard about from Hermione) we got really close to getting together. But we didn't, because I didn't want people to think I was taking advantage of her when she was really upset (see, I am really considerate of her) and we've been writing letters to each other since then, and in her last one, which arrived yesterday morning, she said something (well, a lot of things) that made me just … lose control of what I was doing and Apparate to your house (again, really, really sorry about that)

I suppose I was lucky I did it during breakfast, so dad could follow me (like I said, I'm really inexperienced, which made it really easy for him) otherwise you might not have made it possible for me to write this letter to you.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that my intentions towards your daughter are completely honourable, and also that we sleep about three floors apart, so you don't have to worry about that either. Mum is really strict about that, anyway, so you really don't have to worry.

Again, I am really, really, _really_ sorry about what happened yesterday, and I hope you forgive me, because I really do respect your daughter and she makes me really happy.

**Probably not how you're thinking, though.**

Ron Weasley.

P.S. I was really sorry to hear about your hammond. Really, _really_ sorry.

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Reviews are love! 


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